Eric Thompson, owner of Bedroom & More in S.F., says sleep is complicated, and whether you're tossing and turning has more to do with the mattress coils than daylight-saving time.

Eric Thompson, owner of Bedroom & More in S.F., says sleep is complicated, and whether you're tossing and turning has more to do with the mattress coils than daylight-saving time.

Photo: James Tensuan, The Chronicle

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A bed sits on display at Bedroom and More on Friday, March 8. Daylight Saving Time starts on Sunday and experts say it often takes more than a week to adjust to the new time.

A bed sits on display at Bedroom and More on Friday, March 8. Daylight Saving Time starts on Sunday and experts say it often takes more than a week to adjust to the new time.

Photo: James Tensuan, The Chronicle

Image 4 of 5

A woman passes by Bedroom and More on Friday, March 8. Daylight Saving Time starts on Sunday and experts say it often takes more than a week to adjust to the new time.

A woman passes by Bedroom and More on Friday, March 8. Daylight Saving Time starts on Sunday and experts say it often takes more than a week to adjust to the new time.

Photo: James Tensuan, The Chronicle

Image 5 of 5

Daylight-saving linked to wacky behavior

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Don't be surprised if you're acting a tad wacky Sunday. You'll have plenty of company.

Blame it on daylight-saving time.

Losing that one measly hour when the clock lurches forward from 2 to 3 a.m. every March knocks so many people off their natural rhythms that some have gotten into the shower with their underpants on, put soap in the baby's bottle or tossed their paychecks in the trash, according to a new poll.

Others reported putting their clothes on inside-out or going to the ATM to order chow.

Overall, 61 percent of Americans say they significantly feel the effects of losing that hour of sleep, and 40 percent say it will take them at least a full week to get back to normal, according to the survey of 1,038 adults released this week by the Better Sleep Council.

"It's not even necessary," Linn, 35, harrumphed. "I mean, we don't live in a farming society anymore. Why move the hour around like that? It's just dumb."

Bad things happen

The dumbness or wisdom of it all fills ordinary folks and scientists alike with raging opinions. They agree on at least one thing - it's great to get that extra hour of daylight tacked into the evening. But it's also a true bummer to have sleep snatched away on that one short day.

"If someone is so disoriented that they are showering in their underwear, they are probably already not getting enough sleep anyway, and daylight-saving time is just a final straw for them," said Rothstein, an adjunct professor at New York University who calls herself "the sleep ambassador."

"For some people, the lost hour is just a blip," she said. "But for others it's a wake-up call that they really have a problem.

"What's amazing though, is that even with times like these when people feel the loss of that hour, most people never really learn about the effects of sleep - even though it occupies one-third of their lives."

Bet you didn't know, for instance, that this week was National Sleep Awareness Week.

If you did, you might have vacuumed up tidbits such as the statistic from the National Transportation Safety Board showing that car accidents increase by 17 percent on the Monday after the time changes each spring. Or a National Sleep Foundation study revealing that 83 percent of Americans who exercise regularly sleep well, compared with 56 percent of those who never unlimber their limbs.

How to adapt

Sleep experts say there are fairly easy ways to counteract Sunday's nasty blow so you can enjoy those 60 extra sun-drenched minutes in the afternoon. But they require a sliver of dedication, which is in short supply in America when it comes to the subject of sleep.

"In this society, we are always on, always engaged, and we don't tend to look on sleep the same way we do on something like exercise for our well-being," said Karin Mahoney, spokeswoman for the Better Sleep Council, a trade group, which did the new poll. "We tend to wear sleep deprivation as a badge of honor, as in, 'I'll sleep when I'm dead.'

"But sleep is not a bank where you can catch up on weekends," she said. "Humans crave routine. You have to be consistent, going to sleep and waking up at the same time each day, and you have to be smart about things like not drinking caffeine at night or bringing your laptop to bed with you at bedtime."

The trouble with laptops, computerized devices or TV sets being on at bedtime is that they emit blue spectrum light that tells the brain to stop producing melatonin, a hormone that helps the body sleep.

Changing habits

Use daylight-saving time as a way to start better habits around sleep, Mahoney said, and not only will you handle the immediate problem on Sunday, you'll make the rest of your sleep life better, too.

As for the short day itself: Some people deal with Sunday's vanished hour by going to bed an hour early Saturday. If you don't hit the hay early, don't sleep in late to make up for the lost time, Mahoney said, because that just delays the adjustment.

Getting out in the sun as quickly as possible also helps reset the body clock, she said.

Perhaps nobody deals with the conundrums of slumber more than those who sell the things we sleep on. But curiously, bed salesmen don't see much of a rush at the door around daylight-saving time.

Bed sales immune

Eric Thompson, owner of Bedroom & More in San Francisco, said his booms and busts can happen any time, regardless of the seasonal springing or falling.

"Sleep is a very complicated thing, and whether you're tossing or turning all night has a lot more to do with how many coils you have in the mattress, or whether you have arthritis and need memory foam, than it does with daylight-saving time," he said.